The field of the invention is sporting goods and the invention relates more particularly to sporting goods useful by persons who are physically challenged.
Various devices have been described which utilize a tethered ball which is substituted for an unrestrained ball. In the area of golf practice, U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,761 shows a golf ball which is held on a ring which surrounds a string. The string is attached to the ground at one end and to a raised object such as a tree at the other end. When the ball is hit, the ring rides along the string until it hits a stop. The ball then slides back down the string to the location of the golfer.
Another tethered golf game is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,347 where the golf ball is held on a string 20 which in turn is held on a hollow sleeve which is slidable along a cable. When the golfer hits the ball, the sleeve slides along the cable until it contacts a stop 56 after which it slides back to the golfer.
A baseball practice device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,022 where a ball is held by a tether which in turn is supported on a ring. The ball is struck and, again, the ring slides along the cable to a stop and then returns.
While such apparatus is useful for a single person practicing a game, there are many two person games which are difficult for physically challenged persons to play; games such as tennis, ping pong, or racquet ball.